Rare Museum Quality African "Bird" Mask

Unique set of old fencing masks. Cool display piece. Good vintage condition.

Super cool Los Angeles freeway sign. 10.5 feet long and 3 feet tall. Metal sign, likely from 10 Freeway. Sign depicts the exit ramp for the GRAMMY MUSEUM,...

Fantastic sculptural clay mask candle sconce made in Italy. Hand made in an aged adobe color with a place for a single candle inside. Mask has a metal frame which gives the piece a n...

Fantastic sculptural clay mask candle sconce made in Italy. Hand made in an aged adobe color with a place for a single candle inside. Mask has a metal frame which gives the piece a n...

Sculptural clay mask candle sconce made in Italy. Hand made in an aged adobe color with a place for a single candle inside. Mask has a metal frame which gives the piece a nice depth ...

Rare Willy Guhl bird bath made of cement. Unique shape and large size. Over three feet long. Great sculpture and object. Could be used for succule...

Very beautiful mask with large pronounced eyes with the circular cavity shape. The mask depicts a nocturnal bird that can see in the darkness and manifest the presence of divinities ...

African Bembe mask with feathers from Congo region in original aged pigmented color to wood. From a private collection of tribal art ( inventory numbers on inside bottom ) circa 1970...

African Lwalwa tribal mask enhanced with white pigment on the mouth and ears.

During their five hundred year history in the Southern Congo, the Basuku tribe developed a series of intricate rituals built around their skilled mask makers. This particular example was most likely carved in the likeness of a deceased chieftain. The artisan intentionally pronounced the eyes, cheeks, and chin to provide a terrifying test for young men as they underwent their rites for manhood. The Basuku's spiritual expressions inspired early 20th century western painters...

Light masks like these represented the spirit of an ancestor and were used for social control by Ngil, the judiciary association. The facial markings, abstract features and strong, e...

Very important “Nwantamtay” dance African mask, consisting of three sections: The upper in plain rectangular shape surmounted by a crescent shape moon, the middle with beautiful geometric triangles in black bitumen and white kaolin, surrounding a red cruciform in the centre of remarkable contrasting colors, and the lower part or face inscribed in a circular space that inspired numbered great artists like Joan Miro, Picasso and Henry Moore of a very strongly solar symbolism, with a projecting protuberance emanating from the forehead like a sculpted bird beak, that descents toward the mouth. Concentric eyes harmonize with the circular mouth, both with of elegant proportions. The whole mask exudes a supreme harmony and perfect balance rarely seen in this pieces. The back-side presents nice ware that attested the ancient origin and traces of animistic ceremonies as the use of animal blood residues. The painting of brown bitumen or cola, the natural colorants in red and ocher tones and the white kaolin are original and do not show any repainted or restored areas, giving a freshness rarely seen in old pieces. This exceptional mask Bwa, of the Hound`e Region in Burkina-Fasso, was used it the transit ceremonies and funerals manifesting the presence of “Do”, name given to their God sons, protectors and powerful spirits. The round face also represents an owl, the curving beak of the bird plants a seed into the sun, like a female sexual vulva being fecundated by the male organ; the eternal symbol of Ying and Yang, masculine and feminine, and the quest of life and death. This mask of Primitive facture can be compared to the one in the celebrated Verite Collection (this one being larger) sold in Paris at the Hotel Drouot, Saturday June 17, Lot 59, for 80,000 Euros and remarkably stands out from the Pierre and Tannia Matisse sold in Sotheby’s, New York in May 13, 2011. Another similar piece was published in: “Arman et l’art africain...